Great Tang princess

Chapter 117 Li Zhi's Conjecture

Lords like Cheng Chumo have their own houses in the two capitals. Although it is unlikely that they will be summoned by the emperor, they must be where the emperor is.

After all, once something major happens, the possibility of the emperor summoning is not small.

Cheng Chumo had obviously received the news, and Li Yuechen had already greeted him just as he jumped off the carriage.

"Your Majesty has seen Your Highness the Princess!" While saluting, the voice sounded like a bell.

"Mr. Cheng Guo is free!" Li Yuechen raised his hand, and at the same time carefully sized up the descendant of the legendary general Cheng Yaojin.

Like Cheng Chubi, he is also tall, with big arms and round waist.

The age is close to 50 years old, and the hair has been mixed with a lot of white silk, but it is still combed meticulously.

It just seems that compared to Cheng Chubi, the hairline has moved back a lot.

And it should be because of eating well but not exercising very much, the whole person looks a little puffy, and there is a lot of fat on both sides of the chin.

But it is still not difficult to see from the face, I am afraid that he was a little fresh meat when he was young, although his skin was darker.

After two sentences in class, Cheng Chumo invited Li Yuechen into the main hall.

Li Yuechen sat down cross-legged on the clean animal skin mat: "I don't like to sit on my knees, so I'm more casual."

"Your Highness, please."

"Presumably, Cheng Guogong knows why I came here today." Li Yuechen was not polite, and went straight to the point, "I hope Cheng Guogong will not punish them."

Cheng Chumo poured her a glass of sanle syrup and grinned: "What did His Highness say? It's their honor to share His Highness' worries!"

"Cheng Guogong doesn't need to be so polite. I should have figured it out after thinking about it. I also plan to open a paper-making workshop." Li Yuechen smiled.

"Hmm..." Cheng Chu nodded silently, but didn't answer.

Of course he knew the princess's purpose. After all, the candy and fruit shops in Nanshi, as well as soaps and moisturizing creams, were already popular in Dongdu.

Now that the princess is going to share the cake, what can he say?
Could it be possible to scold her for being ugly?That simply does not want to live!

Seeing that he obviously lacked interest, Li Yuechen was not in the mood to continue the chat, and after a few polite words, he got up and left.

After returning to the palace, Li Yuechen went to the Hall of Renshou to chat with the couple, drink tea together, and report on his recent achievements in the mall.

After the report was over, Li Yuechen poured tea into the couple's cups and smiled: "To sum up, the baby is expected to distribute 500,000 guan to parents by the end of the year, and this is only the price of soap, not Liuli!"

Li Zhi was also surprised by this number and smiled: "Okay, not bad! In this way, there is no need to be tied up in disaster relief in the future!"

"That's right." Li Yuechen said with a smile, "As long as parents have money, Datang will be much more capable of fighting against natural disasters in the future."

"Nonsense, natural disasters can't be countered by manpower?" Wu Zetian said next to him.

Li Yuechen leaned on her and massaged her arms by the way: "It depends on how big the natural disaster is, at least you have to do your best, don't you?"

"Chen'er has such a fighting spirit, I'm so relieved!" Li Zhi lay on the rocking chair, twirling the health ball in his hand easily, "What's the next step?"

"Speaking of this, my boy plans to open a paper-making workshop to research low-cost paper so that more people can read." Li Yuechen said, "In this way, our Great Tang will definitely produce more talents continuously."

Wu Zetian next to him looked down at the teacup in his hand: "Paper... If the research on this thing is successful, I'm afraid some people will make trouble again?"

Li Zhi, who was lying on the rocking chair, grinned: "Let them try! I'm still worried that I won't find a chance."

In recent years, Li Zhi has also realized that he is old, so he has already begun to plan to pave the way for Prince Li Hong.

If he could clear the obstacles for his son while he was alive, then Li Hong's throne would be much more stable.

Li Yuechen doesn't care about this, they failed to kidnap him last time, so they dare to do it again?
Do you really think that the emperor, Dad, is just a display?
Thinking of this, he ran to the door and called Fulai in: "I will go to the lower reaches of the Luo River outside the city recently to find a place to open a paper-making workshop."

"Here!" Fulai agreed, "However, Your Highness, last time I bought a lot of slaves, and the price of slaves in the city is a bit high now, this..."

"You don't have to buy slaves, you can also hire workers." Li Yuechen laughed.

Fulai was stunned: "How can it be done? Wouldn't it be necessary to give them wages in addition to taking care of their food and lodging?"

Wu Zetian, who was narrating, also advised: "Chen'er, wouldn't this move increase the cost?"

Although Li Zhi didn't speak, the expression on his face was obviously the same, and he didn't understand why she would do this.

However, there was also a trace of curiosity amidst the puzzlement, as if he wanted to hear what his daughter had to say.

Li Yuechen turned his head and looked at Fulai: "Can money be eaten? If you have money, you still have to spend it? Otherwise, you have to use the money to pay taxes? Isn't Datang itself the ultimate beneficiary?"

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a poll tax. As long as you were alive, you had to pay the tax, and you had to bear the problem of taxes and labor.

Of course, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, just pay more, and pay more taxes to offset the tax and labor.

Li Yuechen took care of their three meals a day, and their salary was just enough to feed their families and pay taxes. At that time, the money would still go back to the treasury.

Speaking of this, she couldn't help shaking her head: "I thought you could understand."

"Slave is stupid!" Fulai quickly admitted his mistake, and then got up: "Slave will do it right away."

It wasn't until Fulai left that Li Zhi smiled: "In this way, wouldn't Chen'er earn a lot less money?"

"Baby is a princess of a country. She doesn't have to worry about eating and drinking. What's the use of that much money?" Li Yuechen said with a smile, "Boy's purpose is to make Datang rich. As long as Datang has money, he will be prosperous forever!"

……

After Li Yuechen left, Li Zhi squinted his eyes, as if talking to himself: "It seems that Chen'er also has plans to reform."

"Concubine, I also feel this way." Wu Zetian nodded, "Should I beat her up? Otherwise..."

"No need!" Li Zhi suddenly laughed, "I'm looking forward to seeing what changes Chen'er can bring to Tang Dynasty."

Wu Zetian was a little puzzled: "Do you trust Chen'er so much?"

Li Zhi bowed his head and picked up his teacup: "At least for now, it is correct for me to let Chen'er enter the court as an official. Taking history as a mirror, we can know the ups and downs! This just shows that the ancestral system may not be correct. The addition of the Han Dynasty, Guozuo is only 400 years. The two weeks that the late emperor envied, but enjoying the country is only 800 years... Datang, how long can it last?"

Wu Zetian helped him add some tea: "The childish slave believes that Chen'er can make the Tang Dynasty eternal?"

"Does Mei Niang feel that Chen'er thinks differently from normal people?"

"I do feel this way. I do everything myself, and I am willing to find solutions to problems. Compared with Confucianism, it is more like Mohism."

Li Zhi nodded: "In recent years, I have also learned something from Chen'er. The system should follow the changes of the environment. If you blindly follow the ancestral system, when the system cannot keep up with the environment, it will die!"

Hearing this sentence, Wu Zetian was slightly startled, couldn't help raising his head and asked, "Young slave...but what did you notice?"

"In today's world, there are many fugitive households." Li Zhi replied, "Although there are not many, compared with the previous emperor's dynasty, there are many. If this continues, I am afraid it will not be a blessing."

Hearing his words, Wu Zetian bowed his head and murmured: "Seeing a leaf fall, you know that the end of the year..."

Suddenly she narrowed her eyes, as if she had thought of something, she raised her head suddenly: "Could it be...she knows the future, and knows how the future of the Tang Dynasty will be?"

Li Zhi shook his head with a smile, and easily twirled the health ball in his hand: "It's hard to say... Li Chunfeng is a talented person, who knows what he taught Chen'er?"

"But... if this is really the case, you should ask Chen'er about it!" Wu Zetian said.

"Let's not say that this is just conjecture, I don't know if it's true or not... Just as Mei Niang said, if it is true, if Chen'er is forced to ask, does she dare to say it? If it is true, she will reveal the secret if she says it! If you lose your life, you will die a bad life!"

Having said that, Li Zhi turned his head and asked, "Meiniang is willing?"

Wu Zetian shook his head: "Reluctance!"

Li Zhi nodded with a serious face: "I can't bear it either! So no matter what she plans to do, let her do it. With Zhen standing behind her, no matter what she does, it will be smoother."

Wu Zetian nodded: "Thank you for your hard work."

Hearing her words, Li Zhi shook his head, took her hand in his and stroked it gently: "Since I ascended the throne, the imperial palace has become extremely cold. Only after bringing you back from Ganye Temple, Mei Niang, can there be a trace of warmth. After so many years, after having Chen'er, this palace has finally become like a home... just like when I was a child, with grandpa and sister by my side."

Wu Zetian reached out and hugged him gently: "It's been so many years, don't think about it, from now on, my concubine and Chen'er will always be by my side!"

……

A few days later, the time came to the end of February, and the craftsman finally drove out the roller skates made for Li Zhi.

Li Yuechen excitedly ran to the craftsman to pick up the goods. With this thing, it should allow the old man to exercise more.

As long as he doesn't play some too fancy moves, it's not a strenuous exercise, and it just allows him to combine work and rest.

Li Yuechen, who came to the craftsman and was about to pick up the goods, was stunned as soon as he entered the door. Seeing that there was only a lonely apprentice craftsman in front of him, he couldn't help asking: "Where is the person?"

Although Li Yuechen himself didn't mind whether they greeted him or not, it was a bit too much for the princess to not come out to say hello.

"Return to Your Highness, all the masters have gone to Mang Mountain to participate in the construction of the blast furnace, let the younger one apologize on your behalf!" The apprentice on the opposite side bowed and saluted.

"Free gift!"

Knowing the reason, Li Yuechen nodded, and there was nothing to blame.

He turned his head and looked at the hollowed-out wooden box on the table next to him: "Is this it?"

The apprentice hurriedly opened the lid: "Yes, please take a look, Your Highness!"

Li Yuechen raised his hand to pick it up, looked at it, turned the wheel with his hand, and nodded to express his satisfaction.

Then close the lid, grab the wooden box and throw it to Fulai: "Let's go to Renshou Hall."

To be honest, the weight of the roller skates is really unclear, and Fulai has never practiced before. After catching it, he couldn't help but took two steps back, and hurriedly followed Li Yuechen to the Hall of Renshou.

When I came to the hall, I saw Li Zhi lying on the rocking chair and turning the health ball, and immediately ran over and took his hands and pulled him up: "Grandpa, don't lie still all day, your body will rust. of!"

Li Zhi grinned: "I'm not an iron man, how can I get rusty?"

"Then you can't just lie down all day long, a combination of work and rest can make your body healthy!" Li Yuechen pulled him outside without saying a word, "The roller skates for grandpa have been made, my son will take grandpa to play. "

"Wait, you allow me to change my clothes!" Li Zhi put down the health ball, turned his head and said, "Meiniang, go and have a look too, when yours is ready, we can play together."

"Okay, let's go and have a look together." Wu Zetian behind the table nodded and put down the brush in his hand.

Li Yuechen nodded, that's right, life lies in exercise, and it's not good for your body not to move every day.

Why can wild boars live 50 years, while domestic pigs usually live only 20 years?So exercise is key.

This is what the elementary school physical education teacher said back then, although from a scientific point of view this metaphor is not so appropriate...

Taking Li Zhi to go roller skating naturally can't be in the imperial city, otherwise people will see it and spread it to Yushitai, and they will be sprayed again next time they go to court.

So Li Yuechen took him to the harem. The square behind the Zhenguan Hall is relatively flat with stone slabs, which is a good place to practice.

At the same time, he greeted Fulai: "Go and bring my roller skates, I want to play with grandpa."

"Yes! Your Highness wait a moment!"

With a promise, Fulai hurried back to Anfu Hall to get her roller skates.

Li Zhi took off his dragon robe and put on a hakama pleat.

This kind of clothes belonged to Hufu, and it was very convenient to wear when archery or riding a horse, although it was still troublesome to Li Yuechen.

When he came to the square behind Zhenguan Hall, Li Zhi sat on the steps and began to change his shoes.

After a while, Fulai also came over panting, holding Li Yuechen's roller skates, and she also put them on beside her.

Wu Zetian curiously sat on the rocking chair that Zhang Chengxin sent someone to bring over, intending to see how this thing works up close.

After Li Zhi put it on, he slid his feet back and forth a few times, turned his head and asked, "Wouldn't you fall if you wear this?"

"Grandpa, don't worry, I won't fall with my child watching!" Li Yuechen was confident, then stood up and slid in front of Li Zhi, spun around in a circle and then stopped steadily.

Looking at his daughter's approaching hand, Li Zhi helped her to stand up slowly, perhaps because of discomfort, her legs were still trembling slightly.

"Grandpa, don't be afraid, there's a baby here!" Li Yuechen comforted, pulling his hands backwards, and pulling him forward some distance.

If Li Zhi lost his balance, the queen would fall down, Li Yuechen took advantage of the situation and hugged him to stabilize his figure.

With her strength, she can completely hold Li Zhi now.

"How is it? I told you not to be afraid, I won't let Grandpa fall to the ground." Li Yuechen had a confident smile on his face.

In fact, she is not 100% sure once she starts to skate, but she is saying this now to build up Li Zhi's confidence, the more afraid she is, the less likely she will be able to learn this thing.

　Thank you for the 1500 starting coins rewarded by [Daily Family Feelings, Sleeping and Drowsy]!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)